Gearbox Lends Homeworld IP

Hardware: Shipbreakers, the spiritual successor to the Homeworld franchise being developed by founding members of Relic Entertainment, is now, thanks to Gearbox Software, officially a Homeworld game.

The game will now be titled Homeworld: Shipbreakers as part of a deal signed by Gearbox and developer Blackbird Interactive at PAX. What's more, Gearbox Software will help Blackbird complete the game with the help of financial and production resources, CEO Randy Pitchford told Polygon today.

"These guys have been funded by private equity, but it's clear it was going to take many millions of dollars more," Pitchford said. "We're giving them the brand and the resources to make this happen. Now, these guys are cooking and with the money they have now, they can grow the team."

The deal, Pitchford said, was signed last Wednesday during PAX Dev, a developer-only event that precedes PAX Prime.

The game formerly known as Hardware: Shipbreakers was announced earlier this year as a spiritual successor — structured as a prequel, however — to Relic's Homeworld franchise.

"Hardware and Homeworld inevitably share much of the same DNA, and that's a good thing," Blackbird CEO Rob Cunningham said at the time. "Homeworld was a fantastic game and we want to recapture that. But what we're offering with Hardware is really a different kind of RTS experience that isn't found in Homeworld or any other RTS."

The Bad News

Well let's just say it's being described as a social strategy game. So we can assume it may be F2P or require a subscription.

"The vision is Google Earth meets RTS," he says, where instead of just being about quick micromanagement the strategy was dictated by a long-term macro game over weeks and months, with players staking control of pieces of a much larger planet.

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They really really really really should've made an Star Wars game with the Homeworld engine. I never understoof why LucasArts didn't go this route. It was a natural to me. Maybe LucasArts was too much shooter-centric and too much money-oriented then already.

— “ Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.“ (E.F.Schumacher, Economist, Source)

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
They really really really really should've made an Star Wars game with the Homeworld engine. I never understoof why LucasArts didn't go this route. It was a natural to me. Maybe LucasArts was too much shooter-centric and too much money-oriented then already.

— “ Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.“ (E.F.Schumacher, Economist, Source)

Woot, a new Homeworld! Wait, it doesn't take place in space? That's a bummer. I'd like a proper sequel to Homeworld, one which has ships fighting each other in space, not armed cars fighting each other on a planet. Oh well, will still keep an eye on this, but won't get too amped. At least it's not F2P shovelware.

Originally Posted by Nameless one
Well it isn't really Homeworld game, as said in OP game was called Hardware: Shipbreakers, but now it has Homeworld name slapped for promotion sake.RiP Homeworld we will never see proper sequel.

From the looks of it will be a prologue based on the arid planet Kharak. Were they find the mother ship. Time will tell how it turns out, but yes it's going to be different.

You also have HD and regular versions being re-released by Gearbox. Look at at this way at least Homeworld is alive again as THQ just sat on it.

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Originally Posted by Couchpotato
From the looks of it will be a prologue based on the arid planet Kharak. Were they find the mother ship. Time will tell how it turns out, but yes it's going to be different.

You also have HD and regular versions being re-released by Gearbox. Look at at this way at least Homeworld is alive again as THQ just sat on it.

I wish I shared your optimism but after failed revivals of many series games I tend to keep expectations as low as posible.If some other developer like Ironclad games(they where in play when licence was on sale) got it I would be more positive, but Gearbox that only made shooters and all of the except Borderlands where either mediocre or just bad.

We may plan to host a closed beta test for our upcoming title, HOMEWORLD: Shipbreakers.

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